Crossed Wires and Community in 19th-Century Dreams

April 7, 2017 2:43 PM

Alicia Puglionesi explores a curious case of supposed dream telepathy at the end of the US Civil War, in which old ideas about the prophetic nature of dreaming collided with loss, longing, and new possibilities of communication at a distance (Public Domain Review).
posted by sapagan (7 comments total)

George Saunders is so mad he's just finding out about this now.
posted by theodolite at 4:10 PM on April 7, 2017 [4 favorites]

My one good paranormal experience story is that I had a prophetic dream about 9/11 the night before 9/11 happened, which sucks because my one good paranormal experience story is also an asshole-makes-9/11-all-about-him story. Fuckin' dreams, man.
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:12 PM on April 7, 2017 [8 favorites]

I had prophetic dreams for a while in grade school. Frequently, when anything major happened in the world, and when I heard of it, I would recognize that I dreamed something similar the night before.

Finally realized that I had a clock radio in my room that would go on and off quietly for one hour in the middle of every night, according to the errant timer settings, and I'd been dreaming along with the inspiration of an AM news station.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:22 PM on April 7, 2017 [17 favorites]

Back in the 70s, when I was in my 20s, I lived in countless co-op houses. We would share dreams in the mornings, sometimes. I can't count on ten hands the number of times we had overlapping dreams. Surely I am not the only one to have experienced this?
posted by kozad at 8:29 PM on April 7, 2017 [4 favorites]

I'm reminded of a funny cartoon I saw dating from the advent of the telephone, in which a young buxom woman was on the line listening to a ratty old bum talk about himself, and in a thought bubble above her head, pictured a dapper well-heeled gent about her age. The point of the cartoon being "On the [telephone], nobody knows you're a dog."

I think late 19C people were genuinely unsure about what they had access to via electronic communications - and I can understand that, somewhat.

Also, hey, Public Domain Review? This is a thing? This is wonderful! Signed up for their list.
posted by Miko at 8:30 PM on April 7, 2017

I get Public Domain Review mixed up with Collectors Weekly, the other world's greatest time sink.
posted by lagomorphius at 8:57 AM on April 8, 2017

kozad: Surely I am not the only one to have experienced this?

You're not.
posted by tgyg at 2:24 AM on April 9, 2017 [1 favorite]